Thursday, March 10, 2011

Faces On Walls

The many faces of Andy Wall-hole: Young artist chisels amazing portraits across buildings

A young artist has earned himself the nickname Andy Wall-hole thanks to his incredible face portraits created from the bricks and mortar of everyday buildings.

The striking Banksy-like artwork is the brainchild of Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto.

He has peppered the walls and sides of old buildings around his native Lisbon with an impressive selection of portraits.

One of Alexandre Farto's 'faces in the city' portraits that pepper the walls of Lisbon

And he hopes his 'faces in the city' will inspire people and make them see beyond what meets their eyes.

Alex, 23, hasn't confined his work to Lisbon, and his etchings can be found on buildings across Europe.

He said: 'With my work, I try to delve into the several layers that compose the edifice of history, to take the shadows cast by this model of uniform development to try to understand what lies behind it.

'It's a semi-archaeological dissecting in the search for a functional basis, for an essence which has been lost in the overlapping of layer upon layer upon layer.

The young Portuguese artist creates his stunning artwork on the facades of mainly derelict buildings

'In this act of excavating, it's the process itself which is expressive, more than the final result.'

Each of Alex's works depends on the size of the wall or surface, but a two-storey building can take him a whole day to complete.

'It's to give a face to the city, to empower people that live in those cities that make them more than just another one in the crowd,' he added.

'Mostly I do my art on derelict facades and buildings.'

Alexandre Farto's talent is spreading and his often haunting artwork can now be found across the cities of Europe